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The Miracle
by Michael Schuman

Reviewed by WAYNE E. YANG

Writers sometimes make the mistake of viewing Asia's economic development as a single "miracle" or attributing its rise to a single cause: the Confucian work ethic common among its cultures or the close relationship between the state and private sector. For Michael Schuman, there are as many economic models as there are countries in the region.

Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong
by Christine Loh

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Christine Loh, a distinguished former legislator and supporter of civil society groups, admits early on in this history of the Communist Party in Hong Kong the that the issue is so sensitive that to this day the Party and its membership, beyond their formal office for the Special Administrative Region, remain covert.

Fiction

Between the Assassinations
by Aravind Adiga

Reviewed by NIRANJANA IYER

Butterfly Tears
by Zoe S. Roy

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

The Age of Orphans
by Laleh Khadivi

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Petals from the Sky
by Mingmei Yip

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

Spies in the Garden: A Novel of War and Espionage
by Bob Bergin

Reviewed by RICHARD GARRETT

Hotel China
by SCC Overton and Edmund Price (eds.) / Hong Kong Writers Circ

Reviewed by ROBERT H. ABEL

Hidden Buddhas
by Liza Dalby

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Love in Translation
by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

The Word Book
by Mieko Kanai

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

The Case of the Missing Servant
by Tarquin Hall

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

A Good Fall
by Ha Jin

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

The Beijing of Possibilities
by Jonathan Tel

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Map of the Invisible World
by Tash Aw

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Six Suspects
by Vikas Swarup

Reviewed by NIRANJANA IYER

Supermarket
by Satoshi Azuchi

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

A Robe of Feathers
by Thersa Matsuura

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Everything Asian
by Sung J Woo

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

The Housekeeper and the Professor
by Yoko Ogawa

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Oh! A mystery of mono no aware
by Todd Shimoda

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

Another Gulmohar Tree
by Aamer Hussein

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

English
by Wang Gang

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Shanghai Girls
by Lisa See

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

The Mao Case
by Qiu Xiaolong

Reviewed by NICHOLAS GORDON

The Vagrants
by Yiyun Li

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

Ten Days and Nine Nights: an Adoption Story
by Yumi Heo

Reviewed by KARMEL SCHREYER

UFO in Her Eyes
by Guo Xiaolu

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Once on a Moonless Light
by Dai Sijie

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The Cape and Other Stories From the Japanese Ghetto
by Kenji Nakagami

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Brothers
by Yu Hua

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Blood and Bamboo
by James Church

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The Pearl Jacket and Other Stories: Flash Fiction from Contemporary China
by Shouhua Qi (ed.)

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

Burnt Shadows
by Kamila Shamsie

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Bad Traffic
by Simon Lewis

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

Tokyo Fiancee
by Amelie Nothomb

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Falling Through the Roof
by Thubten Samphel

Reviewed by TSERING NAMGYAL

Outside Beauty
by Cynthia Kadohata

Reviewed by KARMEL SCHREYER

The Piano Teacher
by Janice Y. K. Lee

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Socialism is Great!
by Lijia Zhang

Reviewed by JOHN D. VAN FLEET

Love Marriage
by V.V. Ganeshananthan

Reviewed by MELANIE HO

The China Lover
by Ian Buruma

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

Paper Butterfly
by Diane Wei Liang

Reviewed by SHAHBANO BILGRAMI

Little Hut of Leaping Fishes
by Chiew-Siah Tei

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

Gardens of Water
by Alan Drew

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The Ancient Ship
by Zhang Wei

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

My Favourite Wife
by Tony Parsons

Reviewed by PEG FONG

Real World
by Natsuo Kirino

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

The Ginseng Hunter
by Jeff Talarigo

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Beijing Coma
by Ma Jian

Reviewed by ROBERT H. ABEL

The Eye of Jade
by Diane Wei Liang

Reviewed by SHAHBANO BILGRAMI

The Ghost War
by Alex Berenson

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The White Tiger
by Aravind Adiga

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

Nonfiction

The One-Straw Revolution
by Masanobu Fukuoka

Reviewed by PETER WOOD

Where There Are Asians There Are Rice Cookers: How National Went Global via Hong Kong
by Yoshiko Nakano

Reviewed by JOHN D. VAN FLEET

The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa
by Deborah Brautigam

Reviewed by PETER WOOD

China Bound and Unbound: History in the Making -- an Early Returnee's Account
by Frances Wong

Reviewed by HILTON YIP

Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics
by William H. Overholt

Reviewed by MARK CLIFFORD

Strategic Asia 2009-10: Economic Meltdown and Geopolitical Stability
by Ashley J. Tellis / Andrew Marble / Travis Tanner (eds.)

Reviewed by KAISHI LEE

Body2Body
by Jerome Kugan and Pang Khee Teik (eds.)

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

Cycling Home from Siberia
by Rob Lilwall

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
by William Dalrymple

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

A Diamond in the Desert: Behind the Scenes in the World's Richest City
by Jo Tatchell

Reviewed by PETER WOOD

Tokyo Vice
by Jake Adelstein

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

China's Cosmopolitan Empire
by Mark Lewis

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

We Shall Suffer There
by Tony Banham

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

Breaking Through
by Li Lanqing

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Fractured Rebellion: The Beijing Red Guard Movement
by Andrew Walder

Reviewed by PETER WOOD

The Long Road Back to China: The Burma Road Wartime Diaries
by Carl Crow, Paul French (ed.)

Reviewed by JOHN D. VAN FLEET

In Search of My Homeland: A Memoir of a Chinese Labour Camp
by Gao Er Tai

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

Democracy Kills: What's So Good About Having the Vote?
by Humphrey Hawksley

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Journey of a Thousand Miles
by Lang Lang and David Ritz

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

A Gift to my Children
by Jim Rogers

Reviewed by WAYNE E. YANG

Crazy for Kanji: A Student's Guide to the Wonderful World of Japanese Characters
by Eve Kushner

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Rock Carvings in Hong Kong
by William Meacham

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Conflict
by Nelson Rand

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

Strait Talk: United States-Taiwan Relations and the Crisis with China
by Nancy Bernkopf Tucker

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

Friends and Enemies: The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China
by Kerry Brown

Reviewed by PETER WOOD

Signs of a Colonial Era
by Andrew Yanne / Gillis Heller

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Military Culture in Imperial China
by Nicola di Cosmo

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

Through the Looking Glass
by Paul French

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Fixing Global Finance
by Martin Wolf

Reviewed by WAYNE E. YANG

Popular Protest in China
by Kevin O'Brien (ed.)

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

China in 2008
by Kate Merkel-Hess, Kenneth Pomeranz, Jeffrey N Wasserstrom (e

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Out of Steppe
by Daniel Metcalfe

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

China Between Empires: The Northern and Southern Dynasties
by Mark Lewis

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

China High: My Fast Times in the 010, A Beijing Memoir
by ZZ

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

A Comrade, Lost and Found
by Jan Wong

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

The Way of Herodotus: Travels with the Man Who Invented History
by Justin Marozzi

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Open Hearts Open Doors: Reflections on China's Past & Future
by Elizabeth Gill Lui

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Butcher & Bolt
by David Loyn

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

Incense Tree: Collected Poems
by Louise Ho

Reviewed by TAMMY HO

Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China
by James Fallows

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

Poorly Made in China
by Paul Midler

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The Bloody White Baron
by James Palmer

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Macao's Church of Saint Paul: A Glimmer of the Baroque in China
by Cesar Guillen Nunez

Reviewed by TIM O'CONNELL

China Museums
by Miriam Clifford, Cathy Giangrande and Antony White

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Utamaro Revealed: A Guide to Subjects, Themes & Motifs
by Gina Collia-Suzuki

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

Archibald Wavell: The Life and Times of an Imperial Servant
by Adrian Fort

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

The Wasted Vigil
by Nadeem Aslam

Reviewed by NIRANJANA IYER

The Dragon and the Crown: Hong Kong Memoirs
by Stanley Kwan / Nicole Kwan

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

Factory Girls
by Leslie T. Chang

Reviewed by MARK CLIFFORD

Light and Shade: Sketches from an Uncommon Life
by Solomon Bard

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery
by Patricia Bjaaland Welch

Reviewed by MARK CLIFFORD

The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life
by Alice Schroeder

Reviewed by WAYNE E. YANG

Axis of Convenience
by Bobo Lo

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Smoke and Mirrors
by Pallavi Aiyar

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing
by Jeffrey Tayler

Reviewed by ISAAC STONE FISH

The Great Wall Revisited, From the Jade Gate to Old Dragon's Head
by William Lindesay

Reviewed by VALERY GARRETT

Falling Off the Edge
by Alex Perry

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation
by Xinran

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance -- and Why They Fall
by Amy Chua

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The Girl From Foreign
by Sadia Shephard

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

Retribution
by Max Hastings

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

Chinese Calligraphy
by Wang Youfen (trans./ed.)

Reviewed by JAMES HAYES

Global Shanghai 1850-2010
by Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

The Fold
by An Na

Reviewed by KARMEL SCHREYER

Undercurrents: Queer Culture and Postcolonial Hong Kong
by Helen Leung Hok-sze

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

New Bamboo: Contemporary Japanese Masters
by Joe Earle

Reviewed by TODD SHIMODA

City of Heavenly Tranquility: Beijing in the History of China
by Jasper Becker

Reviewed by TIM O'CONNELL

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
by Haruki Murakami

Reviewed by WAYNE E. YANG

Hong Kong Internment, 1942-1945: Life in the Japanese Civilian Camp at Stanley
by Geoffrey Emerson

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

KFC in China, Secret Recipe for Success
by Warren K. Liu

Reviewed by JOHN D. VAN FLEET

Russian Rule in Samarkand 1868-1910: A Comparison with British India
by Alexander Morrison

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

The Age of Openness, China Before Mao
by Frank Dikotter

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All
by Christina Thompson

Reviewed by BILL PURVES

The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China Before Mao
by Charles N. Li

Reviewed by PEG FONG

Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry
by Ji Chaozhu

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

The Forbidden City
by Geremie R. Barme

Reviewed by TIM O'CONNELL

Wild China: Natural Wonders of the World's Most Enigmatic Land
by Phil Chapman

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Animal's People
by Indra Sinha

Reviewed by NIRANJANA IYER

Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China
by Philip Pan

Reviewed by MARK CLIFFORD

Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan will Shape the Next Decade
by Bill Emmott

Reviewed by KERRY BROWN

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets
by George Soros

Reviewed by WAYNE E. YANG

Descent into Chaos
by Ahmed Rashid

Reviewed by MARK CLIFFORD

Join the Revolution, Comrade
by Charles Foran

Reviewed by PETER GORDON

Empires of the Indus
by Alice Albinia

Reviewed by NIGEL COLLETT

Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008
by Xu Guoqi

Reviewed by STEPHEN MAIRE

The Open Road
by Pico Iyer

Reviewed by TERRY GROSE

ARCHIVES

Source: Asian Review of Books

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Kirity Roy in the court lock up on April 7, 2010.

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London, England